Google grasps German Groupon-a-like

Google has acquired coupon site, DailyDeal.de, according to a statement on the German company's website.

DailyDeal, started by brothers Fabian and Ferry Heilemann at the end of 2009, has reportedly grown fast, with Fabian saying in April that the company expected a turnover of €30m to €40m for 2011 after selling over 250,000 vouchers in the first three months of the year. At the moment, the site only operates in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The statement on the website, attributed to the DailyDeal team, said:

We’re excited to announce that we’ve been acquired by Google! What began as a two-person startup less than two years ago has transformed into a trusted platform to connect businesses with consumers. By combining our expertise with the Offers team at Google, we hope to expand our efforts to provide even greater deals to consumers.

Google said at the start of the year it was planning to launch its own Groupon competitor, Google Offers, after the coupon website rejected its $6bn buyout approach. Offers has been tested in the US, but has yet to be fully launched.

At the time of publication, Google had not responded to a request for comment from The Reg. ®